he had stayed for six months, there were several important people who were
particularly interested in its veracity and were waiting to hear from Recife.
Born around 1604 in Villaflor, Portugal, to a Marranic/New Christian
family, Montezinos’s Jewish ancestors had been forced to convert to Catholi-
cism by the 1497 decree of Manuel I. As a young man, Montezinos left
Portugal for the West Indies where, like many other Portuguese New Chris-
tians, he secretly returned to Judaism. He lived in the Americas for about
twenty years and then returned to Europe, to Amsterdam, where a community
of former New Christian Jews now thrived. Protestant Amsterdam, getting free
of the yoke of Spanish rule, was tolerant enough to attract numerous Portu-
guese New Christians who wanted to return to their Judaism freely. For a long
while, Portuguese returnees to Judaism dominated parts of the Atlantic trade
networks. Upon arriving in Amsterdam in September 1644 , Montezinos
began spreading the story of his adventures in the Americas.^3 It was incredible.
In the Americas, Montezinos had made a living trading with Indians and
normally traveled accompanied by natives. Trekking through the Andean
mountain range from Honda (in modern-day Colombia) to Quito (in Ecuador),
he met an unusual mestizo Indian. Named Francisco, he was calledcasiqueby
the other Indians, which in their language meant “leader.” Several incidents
that took place as they were crossing the Cordillera Mountains gave Montezi-
nos the impression that the other Indians treated Francisco with a strange
deference. Francisco also had open contempt for the Spanish Empire and did
not hesitate to voice it, telling Montezinos that Spaniards were cruel people
who would soon be “punished by a hidden people.”
Shortly thereafter, Montezinos arrived in Cartagena de Indias and was
thrown in prison by the local Inquisition. In his cell, he had an epiphany—the
Indians were Hebrews! Francisco and the other Indians must have known the
truth, which Montezinos vowed to confirm as soon as he got out of prison.
When he finally arrived back in Honda, he sought out Francisco and asked
to travel with him alone. On the track, Montezinos turned to him: “I am a
Hebrew from the tribe of Levi and my God is the Lord God, and all the rest is
just a disguise.”^4 The Indian Francisco, “shaken,” inquired about Montezinos’s
ancestors and, after much negotiation, became convinced that Montezinos was
indeed an “Israelite.” He told Montezinos that he was going to take him on a
journey. They marched for a week, “crossing rivers and swamps” and eating
only some “toasted corn.” On the Sabbath, they rested. On a Tuesday morning,
they reached a huge river. Francisco said to Montezinos: “here you shall see
your brothers.” It seems that these mysterious brothers already knew that the
two visitors were coming: in a few minutes, a small canoe came across the river
paddled by “three men and one woman.” Francisco spoke with them; then all
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